In Ohio’s 2004 Presidential election you might of heard there were many problems. From fears of Dieblod machines abilities to be hacked. Communities with high populations being given less polling machines than communities with smaller populations. Military voters being challenged by mail, and when the over sea service man can’t reply to the mail they were purged off the voter rolls. There were so many voting problems under the Republican Attorney General. But lets face it, in politics elections are a game. The goal is turn out. Get your voters to turn out while limiting the opposing voters interest in turning out. The scary part is when officials take advantage of their elected potions to target and hinder voter turn out. This was such a big deal in Ohio and caused so many problems, lines, and turned so many people off that year of 2004. That it sparked a wave of election changes in Ohio. Bush won Ohio in 2004.
By the time the 2008 election came around. One of the changes in Ohio election laws was “over the weekend voting”. Early voting was expended Saturday through to the Monday before election day on Tuesday. Obama won that election in Ohio that year. 30% of that years votes took place on that last 3 days of early voting over the weekend.
For what ever reason Ohio’s current Attorney General has changed the law this year. His new law say that those last 3 days of early voting will only take place for the Military, NO ONE else.
This year voter suppression laws have been suggested and put in place by Republican officials in many different states. These laws are new rules to the game of political campaigning. They are made specifically to limit an opponents voter turnout. While preserving their own turn out. In Ohio the GOP is assuming the Military vote is theirs to preserve while they limit others from voting for 3 days, in a state that is trending in Obama’s favor. Not just in the past election, but the current campaign polling.
Obama campaign is now suing the state of Ohio. They’re law suit is in defense of equal ability for all to vote in those last 3 days, not just the Military. The law suit is asking to dismiss the new law allowing only Military voting, and instead reinstate the original law of everyone having the same ability to vote over the weekend.
The Republican spin is that Obama is trying to stop the 3 day voting for the Military. It’s all over the web. It’s all over Fox News. Romney is now brought it up in his stump speech. The whole right-wing is attacking Obama for suing to stop the Military from being able to vote in Ohio. They leave out mentioning and previous law of every one being able to vote in that 3 day period. They leave out that Obama’s law suit request’s for Ohio to go back to using the previous law. The Republican sound machine leaves out that the Obama camp WANTS everyone to vote in those last 3 days. The Obama camp enjoyed the weekend voting in Ohio’s last presidential election, and they want it back again. Remember that 30% of the votes in Ohio came over that last weekend. Obama doesn’t want to mess with that. It helped.
The Republicans are lying and suppressing votes at the same time they are trying to say Obama is suppressing Military votes.
Read the update to this post, Ohio Secretary of State Has Chosen To Stop Military Votes So Citizens Don’t Get To Vote Either